The Untold Tale
by DandN
Summary: Have you ever wondered what exactly happened when the Marauders roamed in Hogwarts? How did Lily and James end up together? When did Peter abandon his mates? What happened between Remus and Sirius to make them doubt each other? This is the Untold Tale. OC
1. Chapter 1 The One In The Beginning

**Authors Notice: **_Hi everyone! What you are about to read is a result of almost two years of writing. We are currently working on revising the story, so it'd be great if you could spare a few minutes to write your opinions about 'The Untold Tale'. Thank you all in advance!_

**Chapter One: The One In the Beginning**

"Why, oh why, did I decide to do this?" a young witch wondered, standing between platform nine and ten of King's Cross Station in London. It had taken her a lot of effort to get here, but at the moment it appeared as if that had all been for nothing. In her hand, now pinkish and numb with cold, she clutched a thick piece of paper that almost felt like parchment. Tracing the slightly uneven sides of the ticket with her moist fingers, she questioned how on earth she was supposed to get to platform nine and three quarters. Out of all the things her tutor had fussed about - the right shape of bottle for frogspawn, the right width of scales and the like - she seemed to have forgotten all about the right directions.

Because of her long search for the station, her auburn hair had become frizzy from the soft rain outside. Clinging to her cat's carriage and trolley almost desperately, she watched how dozens of muggle students passed her in a hurry while their parents gave instructions - not always lovingly. Laughter and shouting created a comfortable chaos all around the platform, but the lone girl standing in the middle felt anything but at ease.

Of course when her British friend had asked if she was interested in spending her last year of education at the most famous wizarding school in entire Europe, she was basically bouncing off the walls and back from glee. But now, standing here on a crowed platform, the idea of spending a whole year in a foreign country for a year evoked some slight fear in the girl. Even the knot in her stomach her nerves gave her seemed to grow larger still; it didn't help that out of the whole platform packed with students of all ages, she knew none.

"Excuse me, mi-" she tried to stop a woman passing by, only to be ignored, "I'm sorry, Sir? Can you tell me where-?"

Everyone went on to their own trains hastily, paying no attention to the freckly witch trying to catch their attention. Cursing colourfully, she didn't bother to care about the other kids who roamed around and asked their parents what those nasty words meant. By the time the third mother in a row covered up her son's ears while uttering a shocked "Good gracious", the girl had paced up and down the platform at least twice already and had figured she wouldn't catch the train anymore. Within exactly ten minutes it would depart and, as she hadn't even found the right platform yet, she would not be able to get everything on her trolley inside in time. The witch grunted and kicked the nearest wall; her foot got stuck.

"Well, have I ever..." she looked around; no one seemed to take notice of her. Carefully, she grabbed her cart and leaned further into the brick wall. While stumbling over her own two feet, the young redhead nearly fell into what seemed to be a station within a station: platform nine and three quarters, at last.

"Blimey! Where is Lily now?" she cursed to herself while biting her lower lip anxiously, though the witch did try her best to succeed in her attempt to look cool and collected. A small puff of smoke emitted from the polished, red steam locomotive, which in all her near-dread she failed to admire. Insecurely stepping towards the train, the young woman looked over the mass of students and barely paid attention to dozens of faces that all looked the same and different at the same time. She was about to turn back on her heels, off to wherever these people exited the station, when she heard someone calling out for her in a man-muted voice. Spinning around rapidly - perhaps a bit too rapidly, due to a few cracking bones - the girl was able to spy Lily Evans storming her way enthusiastically. The witch dropped the carriage, in which a cat hissed viciously, on her trolley, and hugged her friend when she finally reached her.  
"Its so good to see you, lass!" Lily said with a sparkle in her brilliant emerald eyes, "Did you find it here alright?"  
"Sure did!" the witch replied and grinned slightly while her anxiety finally seemed to vanish to the rainy skies above. Jokingly, she poked Lily in her arm, "Its not like London is _that_ big. Even I wont get lost in here!"

With a wrinkled nose, which showed she really found that hard to believe, Lily laughed at the comment melodiously. After all, Lily knew everything about her friend's sense of directions which, according to the lass' father, she simple didn't have.

"Its great to finally be here," the witch continued, now staring at the bright red train with butterflies prickling her insides. _The Hogwarts-Express_, she thought as she caught a glimpse of Lily nodding her head vigorously. Where the roof of the platform ended and manmade became nature, Morgan could see how the rain poured so hard the water in the puddles spurted ankle high. The father of a high-strung and obviously muggle-born boy kissed his son goodbye, but did not know where to leave the platform and decided to simply walk outside, next to the rails. However, when he opened his umbrella, the wind clapped it inside out, resulting in the instant soaking of the man. Laughing, one of the older students cast an instant-dry spell on him when he darted back under the roof.

"Come on! We'd better go inside and find an empty department so we can have a proper chat," Lily suggested and started tugging the girl's robes, pulling her along. They zigzagged between groups of students about to board and trunks plastered with stickers of famous Quidditch-teams, but it seemed as if they weren't exactly going anywhere. Having a hard time keeping up, the witch was about to yell something to make Lily slow down, but she was interrupted by a voice that was deepened with want-to-be maturity.  
"Hey, Evans!" Lily stopped briskly and pulled her friend's arm so hard the latter had trouble finding her balance. "Had a good summer?"

Both Lily and her friend turned around to see who was talking. Now in front of them were four boys, apparently the same age as the young women. Two of them were wearing a very smug look on their faces, while the other two appeared only mildly interested.

The one who had spoken appeared to be the Head Boy, as the gleaming copper badge pinned to his robes clearly told so. His hazel eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses, but his haughty expression couldn't be concealed by anything that wasn't at least a few sizes bigger than the sun. On his left side, there was rather small stocky boy, who looked somewhat tense and didn't really seem to fit in with the rest of them. An aristocratic looking chap stood on the right side of the Head Boy; his black hair hung casually over his face, like he had no worries whatsoever. Behind him, there was a lad that actually looked a lot more mature. His eyes were light although the true colour couldn't really be told for sure from the girl's position and a few curly locks of reddish hair were sticking out of place. There was something unnerving about him, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

While the red-haired witch was observing the group of wizard's in front of her, Lily's face had turned a slightly whiter shade than before and there was no doubt she was sneering at them.  
"My summer was very nice, thank you very much. It still _would_ have been that way if I hadn't seen you, James Potter," Evans answered scoffing and her friend threw a quick glance towards her. Grinning discreetly, the girl was proud of the nippy retort Lily had come up with.  
"Right, Evans. Your summer might have been okay before you saw me, but now its perfect!" James replied quickly, holding his hands up as if waiting for applause to come. The witch could feel how Lily tensed next to her, a blank expression of suppressed anger on her face.  
"Who's your friend, Evans?" Potter continued before Lily could even open her mouth to give another nasty reply, which would have been bound to come. The witch could feel all eyes linger on her, but she didn't care that much anymore now she knew who they were. Left from James was Peter Pettigrew - the odd duck amongst them - while on the right stood Sirius Black, who had made being the biggest girl-magnet of entire Hogwarts a full-time job. Behind them, there was Remus Lupin; the only boy of the quartet who, according to Lily, had brains to begin with. From the stories she had heard from her best friend, the newest redhead was sure she knew enough of their reputation to make her loss of interest in the wizards in front of her legit. There must have been a valid reason Lily's description of them had included several rather colourful expressions, which ranged from arrogant morons to conceited gits.

"She happens to be a friend of mine who will spend this year in Hogwarts with us," Lily snapped at him, squeezing the witch's arm so firmly it must have felt like it would fall off anytime soon, "And about that ridiculous remark about my summer you made, there's only one thing I can say to you: the day I am happy to see you, James Potter, is the day I'll see Flitwick square-dance naked on the bar of the Three Broomsticks!"  
"I didn't know Flitwick could square-dance!" the wizard laughed.  
"Err, Lily, lass, you're bashing me arm," the witch whispered to Lily in her trifling Irish accent, trying to pry herself away from the firm lock her friend had on it.  
"I think we should get on the train..." she added, just to make sure Lily wouldn't do anything she might regret later.  
"Of course. You're right. Lets go!" the redhead said, picked up her things and left the witch before she fully understood her friend was going. The witch shook her head and, after picking up her cats carriage, followed.  
"See you later, lassies!" she heard James Potter's cheerful voice behind her. The witch heard Black say something to his mates, but couldn't fully understand what. Not that she cared one way or the other.

Lily dragged the witch into the train rapidly, claiming it would depart any minute. After dumping their trunks, their quest to find an empty department became complicated, as most of the students had found their seats at least ten minutes ago. The look on the new Head Girl's face was so unbelievably scary, the witch figured it would be safer to just follow and keep quiet. Angrily, Lily pushed open compartments doors - causing a couple of younger students to jump up in scare - and she followed, keeping a safe distance to her. When Lily finally sat down, the witch took a seat opposite her and looked at her patiently. It seemed as if the redhead was eating a gruesome-tasting Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean - perhaps something like Brussels-sprouts or the like.

"Morgan, I just cant stand him. How can anyone be so... so... UGH!" Lily said, clearly frustrated and with her hands in her hair in aggravation. The redhead could even see her foot tapping vigorously, which was something Lily only did in extreme situations. She thought about it for a moment.

"I can see what you mean..." the girl named Morgan said, trying to calm her friend down a little, but evidently failing miserably, "Is he really worth fretting over?"  
"And I can't believe he made it to Head Boy! Now I have to work with him every day!" Apparently, Lily wasn't really listening. Trying hard to keep a straight face, Morgan glanced at her. Laughing would only anger her even more, and that was something one really didn't want to experience every day.  
"I think there must be a reason for that," Lily's head snapped up from her hands abruptly to look at her friend with a glare, so Morgan continued quickly.

"I mean, I doubt Dumbledore would name him Head Boy for no reason," she ended gently, opening the door of the carriage to let out her cat, which jumped straight to Lily's lap.

Absent-mindedly, she started scratching the kitten behind her ears, still rambling about James Potter's annoying behaviour. For the first in a long while, Morgan felt happy and she let out a sigh, though not an exasperated one.

"Its great to see you again Lils, you have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this," she interrupted Lily, who was still muttering darkly and cursing the Potter-boy with so many colourful words Morgan had never expected to hear coming out of Lily's mouth. Smiling a bit sadly, her friend's expression changed rapidly.

"I can only imagine... Were you parents as difficult as usual?"

With a jolt, the train started moving and a wave of whitish smoke passed the windows before rain ran down the window. The Irish girl shivered.

"Even worse... It took me three months to convince them that I won't be wasting me time here," she said, remembering all the fights she had had during the past few weeks, "But now I'm here, I don't have to think about them for an entire year!" Morgan finished happily and made Lily laugh.  
"That's my girl!" she exclaimed, "So what's up with you and-"

Again, Lily wasn't able to finish her sentence when the door slid open and James popped in his head. A relieved beam spread across his face.

"Here you are!" The head disappeared again and the girls could hear how he yelled through the passageway, where soon a plump witch would appear with a candy-cart full of sweets muggles could only dream of, "They're here!"

Faster than a niffler who had just spotted something shiny, the compartment filled up with four more people: James, Remus, Peter and Sirius. Lily looked like she was about to burst and watched with satisfaction when Morgan's cat jumped down from her lap and hissed at the guys viciously, crouching down, ready to jump up and scratch their eyes out.

"CAT!" Morgan growled warningly and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck before it could do something that would change the compartment into a bloody mess.  
"You named your cat "Cat"? Now that's original!" James scorned, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Even Lupin couldn't help but to snigger, as did the other three.

"Yes, I did. And if you're parents had been as smart as me, they would have called you Scumbag," she replied simply, with a hint of a sneer on her face. The subject "CAT" was something she couldn't take any wise-guy comments on. Obviously, James hadn't expected a reply like that; the expression on his face was more or less locked in surprise. Whether it was from shock or to prevent him from chuckling out loud, Remus had clasped hand over his mouth, while Sirius was sniggering openly. James shot the latter, whose laugh sounded more and more like a bark the louder it became, a nasty scowl. Ignoring them, Morgan put Cat back in its carriage; it hissed at the boys one last time and tried to struggle out of her grip, but Morgan knew better than to let her go. The minute she had bought it, the animal had earned the name CAT, which was short for "Crazy All Through", by nearly amputating her father's leg. Not that the witch had minded though; her father, just like her mother in many ways, was a thick-skulled muggle if she had ever seen one. They completely denied the existence of magic in every way, even if that required sending their daughter away from their guests for a while and ignoring the fact steam was magically emitting from her ears.

James turned to Lily, the arrogant look on his face slightly whipped away.  
"I would love to get to know this new friend of yours, but I believe you have forgotten we are supposed to get instructions in the prefects carriage," he walked outside with a minor angry look behind his glasses. Blinking a couple of times, Lily looked at him with her big green eyes before she smacked her forehead.

"Oh, no..." she mumbled, "I had completely forgotten about that."

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to be good for me?" Morgan leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms, gazing from her friend to the passage where James was still waiting.

"Uhm... Well," Lily started, getting up from her spot by the window reluctantly, "You see, Prefects and Head Boys and Girls have two compartments for themselves in front of the train. I don't think I need to leave you alone for a long time, just..."

"You are bailing on me on my first day?" she raised an eyebrow, but eventually put on a well-played, insincere smile. The witch knew how much the responsible status of Head Girl meant to her friend, "You just go, or you'll make a bad impression. I'll just grab a book or something."

"Thanks," Lily smiled, not sure whether or not Morgan was being frank with her but leaving nonetheless, "You're the best!"

On a trot, the pair left until the girl was left alone with the three other boys, who all looked at her with mild curiosity. However, the black-haired boy soon lost interest and instantly got followed by the small Peter, the compartment became quiet.

"You bet I'm the best..." she muttered, turning her back on them, and dug up a small muggle omnibus by Yeats from her damp jacket's inside-pocket, "Tch."


	2. Chapter 2 The One With Yeats

** Chapter 2: The One With Yeats  
**

Once the door had slid shut, an awkward silence fell into the compartment as if the wood had formed a barrier between the world of sound and their own. Morgan stubbornly ignored the company, reckoning there were amoebae in Antarctica that could have been of more interest, and lazily turned a yellowish page. The quiet rustling, accompanied by the rattling rain and slightly muted breathing, was the only noise the small booth seemed to bring forth. Despite her here unknown hoyden reputation, she most certainly didn't like strange boys - especially if they were boys with a worse reputation than her own. Equally reluctant to speak, it seemed, the lad's remained silent as well. Lowering her book slightly and barely noticeable, the witch's eyes drifted from the somewhat depressing "_When You Are Old_" to the lad straight in front of her. The one called Remus appeared to be buried deeply in a book of his own, paying no attention to the lack of conversation, or pretending exceptionally well. From her angle, still lurking behind her poetry, it was rather hard to see what exactly he was studying, though the leather-bound cover and tattered corners gave away that - though it may not have been made by muggles - it was at least as second-hand as her own Yeats. Lupin brushed away a thick, curly lock of light-brown hair and the eyes that had been behind it visibly hurried from right to left; it was evident that he was not going to talk anytime soon. Meanwhile, the blonde chap who had placed himself in between Bookworm and Girl-Magnet - as the girl would call them for a long while when she talked to Lily - was watching his own nervously twiddling feet, as if they were the two most interesting objects in the entire universe. Obviously, he felt uncomfortable with the silence. When Morgan's discreet exploration ended by the remaining wizard, she found herself staring into grey eyes filled with arrogant amusement. Though she would have loved to immediately pierce her eyes into the poems again, it seemed like Sirius was the only one whom she would be looking at that very moment. His eyes were as sharp as they were haughty and Morgan couldn't but blink her own in embarrassment a few times for being caught.

"So you are Morgan, are you?" his voice was drawling and filled with the same mocking glee she had seen in his eyes. If she hadn't been so judgemental to distrust him right away, she would have shivered instead of repressing any sudden urge to show how she felt or what she was thinking. That very moment, she might have even felt just as uneasy as Peter, if that was possible.  
"Ahem, correction: me _friends_ call me Morgan, but it's Morrigan for you lot."  
She had put on a wry expression and looked out of the window, pretending there was something interesting prancing trough the grassy landscape. Perhaps that would have been the case if any of the animals hadn't been wise enough to seek cover under the stately crowns of the trees or ascended to their granite thrones. Morgan was surprised by the poetic value of her thoughts, but quickly indicated her literature to be responsible for that.

"Ah, but _of course_... So, _Morrigan,_ if you are a witch, how come you haven't studied in Hogwarts before? You don't really look like those pretty girls I've heard of, but are you a student of Beauxbatons?"

"I don't see how that is any of yer business" Morgan muttered and tried to make it blatantly clear she valued her book more than her company, especially after such a foul and offensive remark. Surely enough, she knew she wasn't exactly the best-looking witch of the isles and she would have tested all her newly invented potions on herself rather than to be compared to a shallow Beauxbatons student, but a git such as Black was not in the position to point that out. Snapping might not have been the best way to keep them from asking any more, but Morgan couldn't help herself. The fact she was a witch without barely any education in magic whatsoever, wasn't something she liked to parade about.

"Sirius, could it be possible for you to be civil to others for a change?." Remus had spoke calmly to his friend and, though the droning tone indicated he knew he couldn't do much about his friend's behaviour, the witch was glad he tried nonetheless. Stretching his lean arms behind his head as a butterfly-shaped pillow, the black-haired wizard snorted and looked up to the ceiling, as if to find something remarkable there.

"I was just being _social_ like you always preach me to be..." the twitching corner of his mouth indicated he wanted to sigh deeply and dramatically, but he appeared to be waiting for a better moment to cross the line further than before, "Besides it's boring in here."

"It wouldn't hurt you to take a look in your books," the tone was as telling as before, giving away that Remus found the superfluous comment a waste of oxygen. At first sight, Morgan had to admit that Black indeed didn't look like the kind who studied a lot - if at all.

"Studying you say? Already? I don't think so," Sirius slouched further in his seat and took, if possible, an even more languid pose. Although it wasn't hard to tell Sirius had never in his life had to work for anything, he acted as if he hadn't gotten a break for two long summer months and needed school to relax. To Morgan, it was no surprise she detested ever single bit of his attitude, remembering all the long hours in the pub that had been needed to pay for a bunch of mere second-hand books and the like. However, Lupin - who didn't seem remarkably wealthy either - didn't look like he was bothered by any of it. The witch could only find his ability to pay no attention to it admirable... or maybe Remus was just a better person than she was. She considered that idea, but rapidly decided that couldn't be the case; it _must_ be habituation.

"Well, you asked for something to do..." Lupin's curls bobbed slightly when he shrugged and turned his head around to look at Black in a brave attempt to dare him to disagree. Sirius snorted at his friend again, but the more he did so, the more Morgan found it to sound like a puppy-like yelp.

"I'll go and see if other compartments are less dead than this one," he hoisted himself up and headed to the door, "Peter, you coming mate?"

The blonde boy stumbled up and hurried after his friend who had already stalked away to the corridor. A couple of Asian-looking girls passed the open compartment, their long skirts fluttering around their legs almost friskily. Judging by their giggling and the way they moved their hand to their mouth with a blush, Sirius had honoured them with either a compliment or a charming wink. Morgan felt quite in contrast with them and, perhaps subconsciously to emphasize that truth, she gracelessly grossed her legs and hereby left a muddy trail on her long trousers. The door rolled close automatically before the witch could see how the girly students reacted or if they had actually seen her physical respond at all. As a matter of fact, she wasn't sure whether anyone but she herself had noticed her move or if they had sought any deeper meaning behind it. The bookworm looked too busy expanding his knowledge to see her subtle statement and she suddenly felt rather silly for doing that. Quietly, she put her feet next to each other again, her knees pointed to the window she was looking through. It was still sprinkled with few persistent drops that hadn't been washed away or rolled to the thin metal frame around the glass because of the train's speed. Somehow, the question if anything could break the glass arose in her, but she shook her head as to shake off the thought too. She wasn't going to test whether or not the train was self-mending any time soon, at least not when there was someone else around.

Silence fell over the compartment again, but the Irish noticed it was quite a bit different than before; she couldn't speak for Remus, but she at least was more comfortable, far less tense. Generally, only the clatter of the train on the tracks made a rhythmic sound and the slight rocking felt pleasant to Morgan. No matter how much she could enjoy a good novel, she no longer felt like reading and rather concentrated on the rapidly passing hills and small ponds that might have started of as mere puddles this morning. Her book was turned over in her lap, her hands folded and draped over its back, and - if she had been able to look at herself from Remus' position - she might have thought to herself she was trying to cover up a piece of trash. The view didn't change much; rolling green hills, many sheep, an occasional tree or distant woods. Everything looked quite comparable to her own home.

_Perhaps it won't be so different here in Britain after all,_ Morgan pondered as she granted herself the wish of relaxing slightly by following Black's example and slouching very slightly. It wasn't amazing that seeing familiar sceneries made her feel at home, but the witch had had no idea how alike it all would be. Being the outdoor person she was, adapting Hogwarts itself wouldn't bring too much trouble along. Then she tensed again; _that still doesn't remove the fact I'm lousy with actual magic_.

Now, Morgan wasn't a squib, mind you! She had all the potential to be a wonderful witch even, if she had been able to receive the training appropriate for someone her age and talent. However, since she hadn't been as lucky as Lily, she definitely needed more practice. A lot of practise. As her parents had never accepted what they called her 'abnormality', it had taken her a lot of time and effort to learn to control her abilities in order to avoid being scowled at. Naturally, things hadn't always gone smoothly, as they never do. A few incidents, such as a rather awkward one involving quite a bunch of carrots, would still bring a faint blush to Morgan's cheeks. Thankfully there lived a kind witch in the same village, together with her two sons. Eileen MacBrady, she was called; a woman who had taken young Morgan under her motherly wing and taught her what she could, without causing too much of a havoc in town as well as at the ministry. Deeply sunk in her musings, the witch didn't hear how a calm voice had been talking to her. Only when her glazed eyes were rerouted back to the realm of the compartment, she noticed the questioning look on the face of the wizard sitting opposite her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say?" she said apologetically, putting a dog-ear on the page she had reached so she could close her book, "I don't think I was paying enough attention."

"That's quite alright, I was just trying to apologise for my friend. He can be quite..." Remus stopped to search for the right expression. Given that he was probably searching for a neutral or even romanticized word for "irritating", it could have taken him quite a while.

"Annoying?" Morgan cut in, blurting out the first clean word that had come to her mind. It wouldn't have been of any use to her to insult the only new person she appreciated by calling Sirius names, which she realised was a privilege amongst friends. A bit absent-minded, she wondered which would be the greatest challenge of all: learning to flick her wand and not make a mess or keep herself from slurring the Girl-Magnet and the Head Boy.

"Yes, that's the word," Morgan was surprised to hear the young sorcerer agree so quickly, "But, he's not really that bad. I hope you didn't get a completely horrible picture of us because of him."

"Oh I've heard a lot from Lily already and so far everything is just like she has described to me," the witch shook her head lightly, but couldn't help but to grin.

"Oh, my... Sounds like Lily has been quite open about her opinions. I don't even dare to ask," Remus countered, the look on his face played concern astonishingly well. Though Lily hadn't exactly told her a lot about this boy, it seemed like she had missed a valuable link in the quartet. The wizard may have appeared somewhat ordinary, but there certainly was something amusing and even intriguing about him.

"Don't worry," Morgan's grin widened when she realised the boy wasn't quite as insecure or geeky as his friends made him look, "Mainly she just concentrates on calling the Potter-boy names. I didn't even know she knew that many foul words, come to think of it."

"Well, James can be quite-" Lupin wondered how to defend his other friend for a moment, but again got interrupted by the witch's repetition:

"Annoying?"

"Was just going to say that."

"I can understand why Lily finds him annoying... But if you think the same, why are you still friends with them?" Morgan looked up to the wizard inquisitively and for a moment another silence followed. Cat meowed in her carriage, obviously wanting out, but Morgan didn't trust it among strangers; not even the ones she liked. After biting his lower lip anxiously for a while, Remus cleared his throat.

"They aren't really that bad once you get to know them. I have never a met more loyal bunch and they are quite smart, even if they don't always look the part. They just sometimes appear to be conceited gits."

"From what I've heard from Lily, they _are_ conceited gits," though she liked Remus, there was no getting around that fact and Morgan considered too late such a remark might end the conversation they were having quite abruptly and far sooner than she'd want to. A one way ticket back to that peculiar and boring stillness of before was not exactly on her wish list.

"I suppose Lily has a rather different view on them than I do. James just turns into a show-off clown whenever she comes near. Can't really blame her for disliking him," Remus tried to explain; his tone sounded even more earnest than before. The Irish was slightly taken aback by the calm reply, knowing how fiercely she would have fiercely snapped if anyone dared to point out Lily's flaws so persistently.

"Aye... That's pretty much what I've heard meself," she uttered, before both fell into silence again. Not knowing what else to do, the students both reached for their books almost in chorus and resumed their reading.

"_And he saw how the reeds grew dark_," she spied, but when she looked outside she noticed the thick, grey clouds had indeed made the skies grow dim already. Morgan sneezed.

"Bless you," Remus murmured, still in a friendly voice, but without once lifting his head or pausing his speeding eyes. With the little bit of insight into the human nature she had, she realised how odd it must seem for people such as his friends to understand how anyone could be amused by random marks of ink on paper. How a boy such as Lupin ended up with James and Co was a disturbing enigma.

"Thanks," the witch shook an old-fashioned plaid handkerchief the size of a small tea towel from her sleeve and carefully unfolded it, "School allergies, I guess."

Remus smiled warmly when he decided it was okay to look her into the eye again, but the curl around his pale lips gave Morgan the feeling he might have been genuinely happy to see the first of September. Whether or not is was because he would be with his friends again, she didn't know, but since she had not seen one sad face on Platform 9 and ¾, it was more or less clear to her nearly every student seemed to love Hogwarts. Perhaps she would learn to like it, too, she thought. Anything would be better than a mediocre house in Cork where her parents roamed, especially if it was a mediaeval castle where she'd learn all about magic with her friend.

"Say, which classes you are taking?" he posed, genuinely interested. A couple of parchment papers escaped the back and were muffled back into their place untidily before Remus decided to put it away. With a fluent flick of his wand and a couple of muttered spells, the book - which, Morgan now saw, was called "Hairy Snout, Human Heart" - restored itself and shrunk to a size that would easily fit in his breast pocket. Though she found all those little magic tricks amazing, she couldn't help but to recall her anxiousness again. Everyone was more experienced than she was and it didn't appear like she would get very far without all those handy spells at Hogwarts.

"I don't know how the procedure goes here... But I did sign up for Potions, Herbology, History, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures the moment my parents agreed on sending me here," the witch summed up the courses and hoped the headmaster would put her in these classes only, since they were the only ones she knew she could handle for sure. If she would end up in an advanced Transfiguration or Defence Against the Dark Arts class, she wouldn't even know how to properly hold her wand. Morgan felt rather ill at the thought.

"I don't think you'll have any problems with those classes. They're very interesting, to be honest. Well, except History... Binns is as ancient as the stuff he's teaching. I think we might even have that course together," the hinted smile veiled whether he was happy for that or was just trying to make Morgan feel welcome. In a way, it bothered her she had no more clue how to read people outside her village, "I'll try to help you find your way. Don't worry about that too much."

Taken aback, she stared at the boy and wondered how on earth it was possible her thoughts could be deciphered so easily. Was that another magic trick?

"Don't look so flabbergasted, I'm not an Legilimens or anything," he was rather amused by the look on the witch's face. At that moment, it appeared some of his friends' attitude had rubbed off on him. She found that side, whether she had only imagined it or not, a lot less kind than the one she had seen when they had been talking about James.

"What's a Legilimens?" her curiosity dominated the feeling Remus was mocking her. Though she could more or less already figure out what it was, she would rather hear it from the wizard's mouth. As she was not familiar with this whole new world, Morgan found it smarter to ask questions rather than draw conclusions.

"It's hard to explain... You could simply call it mind-reading, but that's not really right. I'll show you one of my books, if you like," the offer came out eager, but the young man covered it up by continuing in the same fast speak, "It's not really that important though. They don't teach it at Hogwarts, though there are... some people who would like that."

"I can only imagine... It would be so handy to help me remember how to get around on the grounds," the girl sniggered, sheepishly for admitting her inability to find her way anywhere, "Are there any spells that could help me with that?"

"Maybe," he replied mysteriously; a tone that rather suit him. "Either way, I'm sure you'll find Hogwarts to be the best thing that ever happened to you. I do, at least."

Morgan wasn't quite sure about that... but her confidence grew slightly as the train rocked her further through the Highlands.


	3. Chapter 3 The One With A Hold Up

**Chapter 3: The One With the Hold Up**

"You know, methinks you'll enjoy profess-" Remus was interrupted by raised voices from the corridor and for a moment the two were quietly listening to how some, apparently second year students tried to hex one another outside their compartment. Morgan wouldn't find out which teacher or course he thought she would enjoy; at least not that day. After the laughter the Tarantallegra spell had brought forward died out, the walkway and their compartment became quiet for a while. Under the bench, a hushed purring gave away that Cat had fallen asleep.

"You seem very concerned about your magic," he noted insightfully, while Morgan felt herself getting languid and sleepy rather than talkative. With now rather droopy eyes, she suppressed a yawn and rubbed her face with a pair of cold hands. The window had become cool and veiled by her warm breath, leaving smoky patches of all shapes. Subconsciously, she reached out for it and mirror-wrote an old spell in the whiteness, not remembering where she got it from or what it could perhaps be used for.

"My, my. That's very attentive of you to notice," the witch finished her charm and turned to Remus again. However not her intention, her comment came over as sarcastic and involuntarily sharp; something that happened ever so often when she felt her already undersized talent was being criticised for the slightest bit. As the words already faded and tiny drops of water seeped from the letters into the gap between the glass and the metal frame, she tried to dry her palms on her jeans to no avail. Her hands were moist of cold sweat; sweat of excitement, but also of anxiety over what was yet to come. It wasn't very hard to see how magic made her uncomfortable and the tone of her voice made everyone aware of that fact too. Scraping his throat uneasily, he looked at the reverse letters from the corner of his eyes and tried to pick up the hex that was now just a couple of smudges between them and the outside world.

"Where did you learn that? That's rather complicated magic, even for a seventh year," he blinked his eyes and looked closer to see if he hadn't been mistaken, his straight nose nearly pressing against the window, "Can you really conjure a Patronus?"

"Oh, so that's where it's for…" Morgan stared at the long streaks on the window where the water had left a trail and tried to recall where she had heard it before, "I don't even know how to hold my wand, let alone summon something."

"Oh," he seemed slightly disappointed, but didn't stop staring at the charm nonetheless. When it came to special kinds of magic, Remus seemed to enjoy the art of conversation quite a lot and it showed. Surprisingly enough, he knew a lot about Defence Against the Dark Arts, even if he looked more like a History expert compared to his mates. Who knew what else he had in store. In fact, who knew what the others still had up their sleeves that Lily hadn't told her yet.

"I don't think I'll ever learn or need the spell anyway, so what's the use," she shrugged, falling in a small pool of angst, if not self-pity. How she was going to get through this final year, before which all other witches and wizards had gotten such a great deal of practice and study, Morgan didn't know. Even if she'd miraculously manage to get to the end of it in spite of everything, could she really expect to find her place in the magical community after so many years of ignorance? Could she even return to the Muggle world and pretend to be ignorant?

"It's not that hard, I think. I've tried it before, but it didn't last long enough for me to see what it'd become," the boy got rather excited, sitting on the edge of his seat while his voice pitched slightly, "How much to you know about the Patronus Charm?"

"Not that much…" she considered the question and tried to remember where on earth she had heard of the spell before. It was almost certain that Eileen hadn't taught her something like that. "I believe it's to keep away those soul-sucking creatures, right?"

"Dementors," Lupin nodded, shivering slightly as if he had met them before and the memory still haunted him daily, "They are some of the foulest creatures alive, if they actually do live. They feed on positive emotions, leaving only the negative ones behind."

"That sounds absolutely appalling," Morgan cried, "Do you discuss these kind of things at Hogwarts?"

"No, not exactly," he smiled reassuringly and somewhat amused by the reaction, "But we have seen a bit in class. I've done some studying on my own too."

"Lovely," there was that sarcastic voice again; maybe magic wasn't all that 'magical' after all, "I left leprechauns for dementors…"

Remus chuckled, "Is Hogwarts not what you expected already?"

She grunted.

"I don't think there is any other way to defend yourself from them besides this," carelessly, he tapped the written charm with his wand, which to Morgan seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Several random swirls appeared in blue and green until they formed the figure of a Devil's Snare. Amazed, the witch pulled out her own wand and rapped the window while Lupin wasn't looking; nothing happened. "You had better learn it some day."

"Why d'you reckon?"

"I… don't know. Just in case you run into dementors," he said slowly, "That's all."

"Oh," she decided not to go deeper into the subject, as it obviously filled the wizard with bad thoughts for reasons she'd rather not find out just yet.

"What would your Patronus be?" Remus continued the conversation, though it didn't annoy Morgan. Normally, she wouldn't have liked it when someone took such lead in dialogue, but this wizard actually had a lot of interesting things to share.

"A fox," she blurted out, without considering if she had other options, "Uhm… I mean, I don't know, but… It's me favourite animal."

Stroking an imaginary goatee, Lupin studied the witch for a while and eventually started nodding, "Most of the time, it's the first animal that comes to mind."

"What about you? Do you know what animal it'd be?" keen on learning, Morgan, too, sat on the near end of her bench. Her face was now close enough to his for her to see the short, stiff hairs on his chin. With every thrust the train gave, she could feel her slipping away a little further from the blue-covered seats, but she stubbornly remained staring. The light threw an odd spectrum of light in his eyes when he looked away, frowning.

"Like I said, it was gone too quickly to see… But it was fairly big and hairy. I think it was a-" for the second time, the wizard became interrupted. Annoyed by the interlude, Morgan felt like popping out her head to give the buggers a firm poke with her wand, lacking any real knowledge to hex them. The second she thought about standing up and doing so, the compartment door was jerked open with an angry movement and a sudden slam.  
"If you even _dream_ of thinking anything of that sort, James Potter, rest assured I'll..." Lily was apparently preaching to the Head Boy again, so carried away with her annoyance that she couldn't even come up with reasonable threat. Morgan moved closer to the window, making more room on the bench beside her. The small compartment appeared to diminish all the more as the Head Girl and Boy got back with Sirius and Peter forming the tail.

Even if Morgan had relaxed a little while she was talking to Remus, having the compartment filled with people she had only heard of made her slightly defensive again. The Irish only just realised how much she had liked talking to the wizard alone, at a time when there were others around to make that impossible. And, as the good friend she was, Lily would detect soon enough whose company Morgan appreciated and which ones made her wish for the first Portkey back to Cork.

"Making new friends are you, Remus? I would almost suspect you're sick of us," Sirius was still clearly bored and looked for some amusement through mocking his friends; it was just the kind of moronic behaviour Morgan had expected of him based on everything she had heard from Lily, "Hope you're not planning to give up on the marauder-being because of Snape?"  
"What's Snape?" Morgan couldn't resist asking looking at Lily. Soon enough, she would realise she was trying to take up too much information at once, but as it was, she felt that her brain wasn't absorbing enough for her likings. The Irish could only hope she would be satisfied before the others grew sick of her constant questioning.

"A Snape, also know as a Snivellus," Potter replied while he settled himself on the bench, leaning far back and stretching his legs, "Is a nasty little creature they don't even dare to discuss in Care of Magical Creatures. Rather ugly and annoying."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed with his friend, "And he's very dangerous too. Got at least four X-s from the Ministry to those who love to pull pranks."

"Oh, nonsense!" Lily snapped, "I'm pretty sure Severus would be a lot nicer if only you weren't such horrible brats."

"Oi, calm down," Morgan, too, got annoyed – more because she could no longer follow what it was all about than for any other reason, "Snape, Snivellus, Severus… What is it already?"

"It's just a boy who is not exactly social. I wouldn't mind him too much if I were you, Morgan," her friend visibly eased. The grimace around her eyebrows had softened and, though her knuckles had been pale from tensing her fists before, her arms hang loosely next to her body. "He's just a student, nothing more."

"Yes, but a student who is ugly and annoying," added James, but receiving a silencing glare nearly at once. He tried to grin boyishly, but Morgan knew her friend wasn't the kind who could be charmed by such trickery.

"Are you ever going to grow up James Potter? Honestly, what was Dumbledore thinking…" Lily muttered while she organized a bunch of parchments she clearly had gotten from the prefects. Some of them had been scribbled on with purple or pink ink and for the sake of prejudice she presumed there would be more girls than boys taking the lead this year.

"Though…we haven't seen good ol' Snivellus yet. You think he might have finally been blown up by some of his brewings?" James mused and carried on glancing at his mates.  
"I hardly believe that we'd be so lucky, even with all the Felix Felicis in the world" Sirius replied lazily and earned a sudden burst of laughter from Peter. Only Remus didn't seem to find the whole topic amusing nor interesting; he had put his book away but hadn't joined the general merriment of rest of his friends either.

All in all, the witch didn't quite know how to react. It was quite evident that her friend was not pleased with how the wizards were behaving. She decided it might be better to hold her tongue for once, although she finally had some idea what the discussion was about; Felix Felicis had been the last potion she had made with her "tutor" back home before September arrived.

"So, how does it feel to be in charge, Lils?" the Irish didn't give the Potter boy another chance to start talking about people she didn't know.

"Oh, you know," Lily waved her hand dismissingly and gave no answer to the question, "This and that. I would have rather stayed here to catch up."

"A lass has got to do what a lass has got to do," Morgan shrugged, "You know, I've really started hating that saying since Sullivan has been using it against me this summer."

A mischievous smile crept across Lily's face. "So, how _are_ things going between you and the Mac Brady-kid?"

When James heard that, a look of played-shock popped up on his face. However, it was obvious that he, just like the others, was quite surprised indeed. "So Miss No-Sense-Of-Humour has a boyfriend… Poor bloke, how he must suffer."

The witch completely disregarded the comment, "Not bad, I guess. He didn't want me to come."

Lily nodded at this, "I know what you mean."

"The hell you don't," Morgan smirked at this, "But I know what you are trying to say. Had any contact with that cute chap we met last summer?"

Innocently, Lily blushed and gazed up at the ceiling, while James looked up alarmed.

"Nah, he really wasn't my type after all."

"That's just too bad… He really was something."

Seeing James squirming on his seat truly gave the Irish a hard time keeping her face straight. Apparently, the tactic they had developed to deal with Lily's older sister Petunia worked perfectly on young, portentous wizards as well.

"Oh well, it shows not everything turns out the way you'd like to," she reasoned, as she so often did when something didn't quite go her way.

"Aye, true enough."

Trying to confirm her theory on James, Morgan had been counting from the moment everyone was quiet to see how long he would stay so. By the time she had reached seventeen seconds, he was talking again.

"So how long have you known each other?" the wizard asked and studied the pair of witches.

She raised her eyebrows and nodded towards Lily, trying to indicate her she were to answer. The witch herself had made up her mind about saying as little as possible to the Head Boy; clearly he was nothing but trouble.

"Again, I don't see any reason why you would need to know that…But we've known each other for as long as we can remember." Lily told him, Morgan merely nodded in agreement, "Our mothers went to boarding school together."

James eyed the Irish with newfound appreciation. That boy would surely find a way to get some information about his object of affection out of her, she thought slightly alarmed. Seeing as Lily would lose her wits if she found out, that was something she wasn't looking forward to. At least it gave her another good reason not to talk to him at all.

"So, how's Petunia doing?" Morgan danced around the subject to cover up what kind of details she could possibly give Potter, "Is she still dating that bloated lad or did she finally listened to me advice and dumped him?"

"Are you kidding?" Lily snorted, ignoring the other guys that were listing to the dialogue in confusion. "She's still all over that bloke. Honestly, if there wasn't that bloody law that forbade me from doing magic outside Hogwarts, I'd poison him and make sure he has boils covering his broad, fat –"

The train suddenly came to halt and caused the lot to fall of their seats; the lights rapidly dimmed. While Morgan tried to pry herself away from the crisscross of arms and legs, she felt herself becoming scarlet, "Alright, the bloke that has his hands where they don't belong, remove them NOW!"

Her angered voice drowned out the muffled yelps of pain from Peter, the sounds of struggling and fierce meowing, but didn't help her untangle herself nor did it remove the hand she was sure she felt on her thigh. Judging by the loud hissing and spitting, someone had kicked over Cat's carriage and Morgan only hoped it hadn't escaped. Outside in the corridor, the plopping sounds of opening compartment doors were heard until the lights finally flipped back on. The witch traced the hand, still in the wrong place, back to its owner; Black seemed to be quite dazed from falling and apparently had no intention to move just yet.

"Get your filthy paws off of me!" she growled threateningly, while the rest was busy getting up. Offering his signature smile, he stood up and reached out his hand to help her, but Morgan ignored it. Stubbornly, she got to her feet on her own and dusted off her robes. The others couldn't help but to snigger, though the witch simply glared at Sirius with narrowed, blazing eyes. "You are such a nasty, little –"

"Why did the train stop anyway?" Sirius asked and turned his back on Morgan, realising he was skating on thin ice with this redhead. Throwing a last heated stare at the lot, she marched out of the small compartment to investigate, though she had to admit she was trying to escape the others more than anything else. Perhaps the Head Boy had been right about her lacking sense of humour, but Morgan wasn't in the mood to be laughed at today, especially not by these new people. Not unsurprisingly, Lily came after her.

"You do realise you're walking towards the wrong end of the train, right?" she spun Morgan around before she'd make a total fool out of herself, "You're being rather quick-tempered."

"How would you know which end I was going to?" the witch snapped, but regretted doing so right away when she saw Lily's upset face, "Sorry, Lils. I just wanted to get out of there. Those guys make me feel like they're constantly poking fun at me."

"Really, they're not _that_ bad," she reassured, "I might have exaggerated a little bit. You just need to relax a little. You'll be fine at Hogwarts, I promise."

"So, what's the matter?" Sirius had joined the other students in the walkway and was now looking around arrogantly. His attitude irked Morgan; if she had been able to use a proper jinx, she would have turned him into a slug. Not able to deny the fact her inability to perform magic would sooner put the curse on herself than on Sirius if she tried, Morgan decided to give him her most icy scowl.

"We were about to find out," she replied coolly, walking back into the booth and opening the window. Leaning out, Morgan noticed many curious teenagers popping out their heads too in nearly every carriage, trying to find out what had caused the sudden stop.

"Maybe the Hogwarts Express has a flat tire?" Pettigrew said nervously, trying to come up with a way that could have stopped the train without being lethally dangerous.

"Peter, how thick are you, really?" Sirius asked the little bloke in a barking manner, "Trains don't have tires!"

"Oh, yeah… I forgot."

Ignoring the conversation that went on inside, Morgan's eyes overlooked the view for any clues. The railway curved around a beautiful clear bay and, although it was still drizzling slightly, she was able to see something big and black on the tracks about five hundred metres ahead of the steam locomotive. With her jaw dropped, Morgan gaped at the beautiful winged creature further on and immediately wished she was there.

"What is it?" Lily asked, tugging her friend's robes violently. However, the redhead wouldn't budge; she had just realised what exactly was laying peacefully on the trail.

"Come on, let me have a look, too!"

"A Hebridian Black" Morgan whispered astonished, while staring at the dragon in admiration. Its huge black, bat-like wings, which were attached to a large - about thirty feet long - scaled body, were spread impressively. The dragon was waving its sharp and arrow pointed tail vigorously, using it as a weapon that looked murderous even to a train. Suspiciously, the Hebridian Black looked at the long snake of coaches and made the razor-sharp ridges on his back stand up, giving the Irish a terrible urge to go and see it closer. As she started to climb out of the window, Lily pulled her back by the end of her robes.

"What are you doing, Morgan?"

"That, Lils, is a Hebridian Black!" the Irish shrieked exited as she made another attempt to free her robes from her friend's grip. To Morgan's great disappointment, Lily knew her way too well and with a quick jerk, she made Morgan stumble backwards in to the carriage

"Why did yeh do that for?!" she exclaimed annoyed and practically shaking with untainted thrill at the sight of such a beautiful beast. So close, yet so far away…

"Morgan, that's a dragon! You know, dangerous, huge and most likely very pissed!" Lily told her friend, looking at the redhead sternly.

"Exactly!" the witch cried, jumping up and down in enthusiasm. She didn't see what her friend was making such a fuss about.

"No, you will not go there!" Lily stated determined, still with a firm hold on Morgan's robes.

The Irish curled her lip into an adorable pout, "Please, I wouldn't go too close…"

"Morgan, NO"

Forgetting about her tactic, Morgan scowled and leaned against the sliding doors, sulking.

"Let her go there," James smirked smugly, his arms crossed over his chest, "Although I doubt the Ice-Queen will be able to stand the heat over there."

"She will not do something reckless like that… _again_," she sent her friend a warning stare. Avoiding the curious stares of the others, Morgan turned her head. Lily looked at her friend in suspicion one last time before leaving the coach to fulfil her duties as Head Girl; mainly trying to calm down the commotion amongst some of the younger kids. Now, Morgan was alone with the four boys… Four boys who wouldn't stop her if she grasped the opportunity to examine a real, living dragon up close. Quickly, the Irish peeked to the far end of the carriage to check if Lily was out of hearing-reach.

"You will not yell for Lily," she warned the others as she quickly looked for her trunk wedged between other luggage. After ruffling through books, spare robes and potion-bottles, Morgan finally found what she had been looking for: her Nimbus 1001. The boys looked at it with big eyes and the lass could have sworn she saw a sparkle in James' eyes.

"What are you going to do?" Lupin asked, eying the witch and the broom guardedly.

"I'm going to that dragon of course!" Morgan said with a bright grin on her face, slightly surprised the only one in the group with brains hadn't come to that conclusion by now.

"But that's suicide!" Peter squealed, taken aback by such thoughtlessness.

"Tch, nonsense!" she replied making a small dismissing gesture with her hand, as if she was waving away an annoying Cornish pixie and cleared her throat. "Up!"

Morgan's broom twitched on the floor before slowly rising to about a meter above the ground, ready to be mounted. All the times she had ever been depressed or mad, riding her broom had helped Morgan clear her mind for as long as she remembered having the magical gadget. It seemed as if it swept her worries away until a familiar, thunderous noise brought an end to those musings.

"MORRIGAN! WHAT DID I TELL YOU TO DO?"

"Lily!" the redhead exclaimed, trying urgently to hide her broom behind her back. Apparently, Lily had had less responsibilities than Morgan had thought.

"DID I NOT TELL YOU TO STAY HERE?" her voice even overwhelmed the ear-shattering cry of the dragon, which had waved its mighty wings briskly and pushed itself off the ground.

"Uhm, I... Err..."

"I cannot believe you even thought of actually flying over there!"

Morgan opened her mouth to answer her infuriated friend, but decided it would be best to let Lily simmer in her own rage. The Irish shot a look at the others, pleading for help. Although, judging by the looks on their faces, she was sure they weren't going to – either a consequence of her hostility or Lily's frightening fury. With another jolt, the train started moving again.

"Well, I'm still here," Morgan said, putting up her left hand defensively, the other still holding her precious Nimbus firmly. Lily sighed frustrated and plopped herself on her seat by the window, glaring at her friend with every move she made, "It's not like I actually left!"

"But you were going to!" she looked at the girl sternly, "To think you would have been more dependable since last time, Morrigan."

Hearing Lily use her full name made Morgan feel guilty. Lily only called her friend Morrigan when she was either very disappointed or very mad at her; more often than not she was both.

"What did she do last time?" Remus asked, perhaps not finding it safe to ask questions at this moment, but being too curious to let the opportunity slip.

"She-" Lily stared, but the Irish quickly cut her friend off.

"That is none of your concern!"

Though Morgan didn't really care what people thought of her, she had the tendency to protect her pride through all matters. She wasn't pleased with what happened last year, during the summer Lily and she had spent at a lake in Scotland. Since they had been sure that everything about the surroundings were magic-free, Lily had left Morgan on her own to explore the lake. However, the witch had overlooked one tiny thing: the kelpies. Blinded with dullness, Morgan had seen a beautiful, but dangerous Scottish water demon nearby in its horse-form. Ever since she had heard about them, the Irish wanted to ride one and, full of excitement, she had mounted it unthinkingly. It had been fun, but it didn't take long for the creature to show its true nature. As it tried to drown Morgan, Lily luckily showed up and managed to get her friend out with a lot of trouble. That day, Morgan had to promise she would be more careful around magical creatures. The Irish felt a little in the wrong thinking about her oath.

Lily just grunted now and looked outside; the tension was so strong, it would have been able to hold a giant. Morgan didn't say anything for a while; all the years she had known Lily had taught her to be patient when her friend was mad, especially when she were mad at her. Each with their own expression of curiosity, the guys stared at them, afraid to even cough. Morgan was biting her lip, trying to gather her nerves to come up with something to crack the silence.

"I really wish I could have seen it up close," the Irish finally said quietly, looking at Lily a bit wistful and absent-minded, and saw how her friend's head snapped up in disbelieve.

"After what happened in Scotland, you still wanted to take such a risk?!"

Morgan grinned shamelessly, knowing she had won her best friend over; Lily couldn't help herself and started giggling.

"Morgan, you never change," she managed say through her laughter fit. The girl felt a wave of relieve wash over her.

Outside, the sky looked as if it was covered with a velvet indigo mantle, stars often sparkling with a silver shine against the dark background. The train started slowing down and Morgan realized the train had finally reached Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	4. Chapter 4 The One With the Sorting

Chapter 4: The One with the Sorting

Students of all ages strolled out of the train and soon the Hogsmead station was filled with shrieks, shouts, laughter and unbelievable chaos. Somewhere, a loud booming voice that overruled all cacophony called the first-years together. Lily whispered that the huge man leading the youngest students to the boats was the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. Morgan nodded and stared at the untidy looking bloke, who was more than just a few feet taller than anyone else she had ever seen. For a moment, she were glad she didn't have to follow him.

Dragging her trunk behind her through the mud, while Lily casually levitated her own, both witches made their way to the horseless coaches that were waiting for the students. One way or another, they had managed to lose the lads, which was a fact Morgan personally didn't mind all that much. It took so much of her energy to keep a guard up and having a few moments just with Lily relaxed her for a great deal. The girls reached the closest carriage and yanked the door open.

"This one is empty," Morgan turned around and beckoned Lily, who neatly moved her luggage to the top of the coach with a little flick from her wand. The Irish' expression darkened; she wouldn't even bother trying to follow her friend's example. Instead she, after some panting and pushing, lifted her trunk up next to Lily's the muggle way and climbed in the carriage.

"You really should spend more time practicing charms," Lily said, looking thoughtful, but Morgan only glared at her a bit bitterly. With what Eileen called 'that bloody useless law', which forbade all magic folk younger than seventeen to perform magic beyond the barriers of Hogwarts, the witch hadn't even been able to learn how to hold her wand properly – let alone try some actual charms. The thought of having to catch up with everyone and basically everything made her queasy.

"No kidding," she eventually stated sarcastically, in short of any decent words to pardon her lack of magical talents. Knowing what her friend had been thinking, a grin spread across Lily's face.

"It is so good to be back here! Petunia was so annoying during the past few weeks. I don't have any words to describe that," the distressed tone in her friend's voice made Morgan shiver at the memory of the girl Lily had to call her sister. She had never really liked Petunia, who was so different from Lily that it was hard to imagine they were related by blood at all. Quite vividly, the witch remembered how Petunia had run away from them that day she rode a Kelpie, thinking would get some infectious supernatural microbes if she didn't. However, that was perhaps the sweetest thing the little Evans hag had ever done for her: keeping a great distance.

"That must have been awful…" she said sympathetically, although it was hard to imagine Lily's summer had been any worse than hers. The times her father had yelled at her to stop blabbing nonsense and the moments her mother had cried for her to try and be a "normal" girl haunted through Morgan's head more often than not. Quickly, she pushed the memories aside. This year would be parent-free and the witch was determined not to think about her mum and dad at all. She sighed. "But she's not here at the moment so why think about her at all?"

The rhetorically question made Lily smile warmly; Morgan could practically see her removing all the thoughts of Petunia out of her head.

"You're right again," she grinned, swaying from left to right softly on the rhythm of the horse carriage, which had just started moving, "I hate it when you accomplish that more than once a day. It makes you cocky."

"Now, now, Lily," Morgan felt herself become a living metronome as well, "I can't help it I'm so smart!"

"You're not that smart," the British witch batted her eyelashes in a manner that made Morgan understand James' obsession over Lily, "You have just spent so much time with me that my immense intellect rubbed off on you!"

"Oh, ha-ha. You're so funny," the freckled redhead joked and threw a cauldron cake wrapper at her friend, who instantly dusted off the crumbles, "I'm starting to think you and that Pompous Potter might not be such a bad couple after all."

"Hey, you take that back!" Lily sniggered, pretending to be hurt, "Or I'll be forced to hold a potion brewing contest, win and feed you the result as a punishment!"

"Hah, as if you'd ever defeat me," she leaned back, for the first time since she had had to put away her broom very certain of her abilities, "I haven't been taught by Eileen for nothing."

"Good point, you do have an advantage there," the witch on the other side of the coach pouted, "Did she teach you anything new this summer?"

Absent-mindedly, Morgan scratched the back of her head, accidentally pulling out some red hairs doing so, and tried to think of all the things she had learnt. Because her parents had been completely against her depart – almost as much as her boyfriend – she had had to earn the money by herself and had done so by spending most of her days tending the bar at the Green Boar. Though it had eaten most of her precious experimenting time, it had also proved to be quite convenient, seeing as the manager of the most popular pub of her village was no one else than Eileen herself.  
Everyone in town knew Eileen McBrady, of course. However, that had nothing to do with the fact she was the manager of the cosiest, most welcoming and most popular pub in the village, oh no…

Even though the woman was about forty years old, she still acted and even looked like she was a firm girl in her twenties and Morgan assumed that her _nearly_ pure – "They always blame Uncle Leopold and his love for llamas, poor man." – wizard blood had something to do with that. As a single mother in times of economic recession, Eileen managed to keep her head above water better than some complete families and that was one of the things magic did not have to help her out with.

Nonetheless very skilled in potion making, the robust but pretty woman had an even greater gift in charming muggles into spending over five hours in her pub, rather than the "Only five minutes today, Eileen!" they always gave her as they entered. Though perhaps that had been because the men rather treated themselves on cheap pleasures such as whiskey and beer, it was still simply amazing to see her work. Morgan was glad she had had the chance to earn money that way.  
One couldn't help but to admire her potions tutor, she thought. The woman was of the kind that worked hard and Morgan couldn't recall a single day the pub had not been open to public. Even on the few days muggles found a "closed"-board behind the glass door, the pub would still be open to wizards and witches. This supernatural commotion gave Morgan the chance to meet magical people, getting to know several random facts about the separate world. The days when no muggles were allowed in to the Green Boar had always been Morgan's favourite time to pop in, even before she was working for Eileen. She was fascinated by the outlandish garments the magical guests wore, their stories about the latest turns of the Ministry's attempt to ban flying carpets or listen to debates on the magical properties of dandelions.

However, even though Eileen was a very magical person in both literal as figurative meaning, her two boys were not. With both of her children being squibs, it hadn't surprised Morgan all that much to see Eileen fretting over her leaving to Hogwarts – at last. From the moment she had seen several owls passing by Morgan's window the summer she had turned eleven, the woman's suspicions had been confirmed and yet she was to be surprised by the pigheadedness of Mr and Mrs MacCartan. Their daughter would never go to such a useless school for hocus-pocus and magic tricks. Morgan's mother had been slightly more open-minded when it came to the 'different approach' than her husband – mainly thanks to her deep-rooted friendship with Lily's mother. Sad to say, still, that she wasn't about to argue against her husband. Full of pity, Eileen had promised a very teary Morgan to teach her everything she knew and was allowed by law. Magical children should get the attention they needed, was her motto. Ever since, the young redhead had spend more time in the neighbours' house and in the village pub, than at her own home.

And now, a good six years later, she was sitting on the threadbare blue velvet covered seat in the carriage to the castle, with a trunk full of wonderful new creations in the world of potions and not a clue how to hold her hand-me-down Hawthorn wand.

"Oi!" Lily threw back the wrapper at Morgan, "I asked if you had learnt anything new. You look like you're trying to remember every single potion you've ever heard about."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the young woman laughed sheepishly, "I was just thinking about home."

"Not getting homesick already, are you?" Lily raised an eyebrow questioningly and hopped up slightly when the carriage drove through a dent in the road.

"Oh no… I found my new home now."

"That is a very cheesy thing to say already, Morgan. You haven't even seen the castle yet!" Lily laughed, her eyes dancing with merriment even in the dimness of the carriage, and looked outside for a second, "But I think you might be right indeed."

It hadn't taken too long to reach the castle, or maybe it was just Morgan who thought so. Since she had thought about Hogwarts as her new home, she had remained rather quiet and Lily had given up on trying to converse. A bit reluctantly, the Irish stepped out of the coach – straight into a puddle of ice cold, mucky water – and started walking up the stairs to the grand oaken doors, as the rest of the students did, too. The luggage would be taken care of, she figured slightly hopeful, as she wasn't keen on getting her trunk to fall on her head while everyone was looking.

Once inside, Morgan was surprised to see dozens – no, hundreds! – of portraits hanging on the walls, all neatly outlined by busy wooden frameworks.

"Miss! Miss!" a portrait near the girl yelled, causing her to turn around and look at it in astonishment. So Lily hadn't lied; the portraits _did_ talk here. For a moment, Morgan looked at it with a gaping mouth, until the pictured man started to ramble twaddle about eating poisonous toadstools and bathing in frogspawn to cure the malady she supposedly had.

"What malady? What are you talking about?" she asked baffled, ignoring Lily's giggles.

"Why, your nose, miss!" the portrait answered equally shocked by the fact she did not understand him.

"What is wrong with it?!" the witch shrieked, covering her slightly tip-titled nose with her hands.

"It's turned up, miss! It's the sign of the Devil!"

Morgan's eyes went wide, "Why you little… I'll give you the sign of the Devil, you-"

"Morgan, keep it down! There are younger students here!" Lily quickly hushed her friend, looking around frantically and trying to determine how many people's attention Morgan's outburst had drawn.  
The Head Girl was quite convinced that without her intervention, the Irish might just have cursed at the portrait in so many colourful words the students would still remember her in ten years from now. A bit further away was James' gang again, laughing at what Uric the Oddball had just told the new seventh year student. Resisting the urge to give the new Head Boy a black eye – preferably two – Morgan followed Lily, who dragged her towards the doorway at the end of the corridor. Some old statues that all looked the same to the girl could be seen along the way and she was already able to tell she would spend a significant amount of her year trying to find the way around in this castle. Lacking time to feel miserable about her in-existent sense of direction, she felt how Lily tugged Morgan's robes once more to show her the Great Hall. At first Morgan was perplexed with the sight in front of her when she stepped into the big room. Candles floating in the air brought light to the room and reflected in the beautiful stained glass windows, while big oaken tables took up most of the space. All the students in their black robes and hats made the witch feel keyed up about her new surroundings. Most of the students had already taken their seats at the four long tables, but Lily led her friend to the top table instead, where the Irish assumed the faculty were sitting.

"Professor McGonagall, may I introduce you to my friend, the new student from Ireland? This is Morrigan MacCartan," she said in a polite voice to a very strict looking witch, who nodded briefly at the girl. With a cat-like grace, she stood up from her chair to shake Morgan's hand; she seemed like a very stately sorceress.

"How are you, Ms MacCartan? I wish to welcome you to the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry" she said, loosening the firm handshake.

"I'm very well. Thank you, Professor. It is a real pleasure to be here," Morgan told her, feeling respect towards her instantly. Appearing to be a stern but just woman who knew what she wanted, McGonagall was just the kind of woman Morgan wouldn't like to anger and therefore she would try her best not to do so, too.

"Now, Miss MacCartan, would you please take a place there?" Professor McGonagall asked, although it sounded more like an order, indicating the area between the House Tables and the top table, "Then we can start the Sorting Ceremony."

Lily gave her friend a quick wave and left her to stand in middle of the floor, where Morgan was now trying to ignore all the looks the other students were giving her. Slowly, she moved a bit aside and waited for the professor to return with the first-years.

Minutes passed and the witch was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable with every second. Even though she wouldn't admit it to a living soul, nor ghosts for that matter, situations like this had always made her want to run over the hills and far away. Just as Morgan was about to have a small nervous breakdown, Professor McGonagall returned with the first year students. Sighing in relief, the redhead placed herself a bit aside from the youngsters, who were also waiting for what was going to happen next. The teacher brought out a small wooden chair and placed an old, worn-out hat on it. Eyeing it slightly sceptically, Morgan waited for the sorting ritual to begin. Out of the blue, the hat tore like it had opened its mouth and started singing a song:

This talking hat as you can see,  
Has the noble job of sorting thee.  
I might just be a shabby hat,  
My words are wise, remember that.

For those of you so smart and bright,  
Ravenclaw could bring the light.  
Though people who are slink and sly,  
Slytherin fits best, says I.

If honesty is listed high,  
It's Huffelpuff, I can't deny.  
Where bravery and valour rest,  
Gryffindor would suit you best.

My song is done, the houses known,  
All I ask is for your wits to be shown.  
So put me on, quick and swift,  
And I will say which House will be it.

When the hat finished, it received a sincere applause from almost all students – excluding few people who hadn't paid attention or were just rolling their eyes at the shabby piece of cloth. Clicking her tongue impatiently for the clapping to die out, Professor McGonagall scrolled open a piece of parchment. When she started reading the names on it out loud, starting with – 'Ackart, Bartholomew' – Morgan figured hers would fit somewhere in the middle.

She was starting to feel more than just a little nervous; what if she wouldn't fit in anywhere? Or what if she'd end up in a strange house, with strange people?

Panicky thoughts filled her head. Only with a considerable amount of self-restraint, Morgan managed to make herself stay put and wait for her turn. Before she fully well knew it, McGonagall's voice rang in her ears.

"MacCartan, Morrigan!"

She stepped forward, trying to hide the fact her legs were shaking harder than the old medieval wizard that had yelled at her from his painting.


	5. Chapter 5 The One With the Turn Down

Chapter 5: The One with the Turn Down

Morgan walked up to the wooden chair slowly; trying her best to look as if she was enjoying all the attention she received, being noticeably older than the rest of the students about to get sorted. Meanwhile making sure her legs didn't wobble too much under the thick black robes, the Irish sat down and put the hat on her head firmly, although it sunk over her eyes the minute she did so.

"Hmmm, an Irish gal, aren't you?" A strange little voice spoke in Morgan's head; she might have fallen off the chair in surprise if she hadn't grabbed the stool so firmly. "I see you have some talents in you, a definite will strong enough to overcome any challenge you might face. But where to put you? Too much temper for Ravenclaw. Too rebellious for Huffelpuff. Overly loyal to ever fit in Slytherin… Let's make you a …"

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat's voice echoed through the great hall, making her heart feel tons lighter than few moments ago. An outrageously huge smile was plastered all over Morgan's face the moment she peeked under the hat again. The yellow shimmers of the floating candles which accompanied the short applause from the tables only barely got through to her when she headed to her table. Morgan was even too overjoyed to snarl at Potter and Black, who were whistling at her as she passed them. Sitting down between Lily, who had been waving and clapping frantically, and a small, friendly looking girl, the redhead instantly got hugged by her friend. Numerous people were yelling congratulations at her and some students even patted her on the back. Morgan had the feeling she'd get along great with the Gryffindors.

"That was one of the worst things I ever had to do," she whispered in a still shaky voice to Lily, who couldn't stop herself from laughing while another youngster was getting sorted quietly.

"You are incredible! You'd have no problems with flying to a homicidal dragon, or thinking that Kelpies would make great steeds, but you freak out if too many people are looking at you!" she said while poking Morgan's arm playfully.

The Irish just shivered and tried not to think about it anymore; she just wasn't born for the spotlights.

Turning their attention back to the Head Table, the witches watched how Professor McGonagall called out the last name (Zeug, Robert, who became a Huffelpuff) and put away the stool and the hat. Dressed in emerald robes covered with golden stars and moons, the man in the middle, obviously the headmaster, stood up and spread his hands welcomingly; Albus Dumbledore, Morgan recognized him from a chocolate frog card her boyfriend's little brother collected with enormous passion, often seen as the most powerful wizard of all times.

"Welcome to yet another year at Hogwarts! This year we have the pleasure to have another great group of very diverse students." Dumbledore said, his eyes lingering on Morgan for a brief second before continuing, "I am sure they can bring some new spirit to this old school of ours."

"However, this year may prove to be a hard one, for an evil force has risen. Hogwarts students, listen to an old man's words: as long as we remember that the strength we need to resist the dark lies within us all, inside our hearts and, " he sternly looked towards James and Sirius, "innocent souls, we don't need any powerful magic. Only the most ancient magic of all."

The students all fell silent at these words. They were used to their headmaster joking and blabbing nonsense in his speech; this was the last thing they had expected. Of course, almost all of them, with the exception of the newest muggle-borns, knew what this evil force was. Many students had already encountered the horrors the Dark Lord, which had long spread across the wizarding world, slowly, steadily but without ever ceasing. Some people around Morgan shivered and she could hear a muffled sob coming from the Ravenclaw table.

"But let us not mourn or worry now, for it is after all a feast!" he clapped his hands, causing dozens of delicious dishes fill the table in front of the students. "Tuck in!"

Reaching out for the pitcher filled with pumpkin juice, Morgan poured herself a glass and looked at the people around her. In front of her sat two young wizards, obviously juniors at this school, who held no real interest for the Irish. Other than them, she spied few girls who weren't quite recovered from the speech yet; Morgan had to admit, it was not something she had been prepared for. As soon as she had seen her friend studying her new 'family', Lily introduced her to the small, round-faced witch who sat left to Morrigan.

"Morgan, this is Alice. Alice, meet Morgan!" the head girl motioned to the chubby girl.

"Hi!" Morgan waved at her, but Alice grabbed the witch's hand and started shaking it vigorously. For a moment, Morgan thought she would tremble off the bench for real.

"Hi Morgan! I've heard so much about you..." Alice said, still not letting go of the redhead's hand, "Every time Lily tells something that has happened to her, it starts with 'I was with Morgan sometime ago and she...' or 'Last time Morgan and I…'"

"I swear, I haven't done half of those things!" Morgan replied blushing, making both Alice and Lily laugh at her. The next hour was spent eating dishes that were better than anything she'd ever had before, making Lily question her whether she had turned into a pig over the summer. Besides wolfing down shepherd's pie, Morgan got to know Alice better - who proudly told her she had been dating a bloke called Frank Longbottom for almost a year now - and had to listen to several other summer stories. She couldn't recall any Lily-less memories that had been so blissful; she had immediately embraced her new life at Hogwarts.

Just when she reached out for an umpteenth portion of vegetables, a shadow came over Morgan.

"Well, Morgan." Sirius said, pushing the young wizards out of his way and placing himself in front of the witch at the table. He grabbed Morgan's hand (still clutching a fork with a vegetable pricked on it) and stared deeply into her eyes.

"Now that you are sorted in Gryffindor, would you like to go out with me sometime?" he asked, giving her a fairly charming grin that made female Ravenclaws at next table sigh dreamily. Quickly, the Irish pried her hand away from him and shoved the forkful of broccoli in her mouth. After chewing and swallowing slowly, enjoying the hopeful look in Black's eyes, Morgan smiled.

"Do you think that I have the wits of a troll?" she asked, arching an eyebrow sceptically.

Some girls gasped in disbelief, but the witch was sure every single guy who had heard was grinning upon hearing that. Morgan herself had never been keen on dating guys, especially the cocky, persistent ones. One time, she had gotten so fed up with a chap, she had completely lost control, causing the bloke to end up wearing a white tutu, complete with pink skirt. It had taken five ministry workers to cover it up: one to modificate his memories and four to stop his hair (which she had accidentally turned blue) from suffocating him and sending him to an early grave.

"Why, no!" Sirius said, although he seemed to be slightly taken aback by Morgan's answer. "You seem like a very smart lass to me," he continued, trying to flatter the redhead in front of him.

"Well then, if you think I'm so smart, why did you ask such a stupid question?"

Grinning inside, Morgan saw Sirius' mouth open and close, but no sounds came out. As he sat there, looking like a bewildered goldfish, James was cracking up besides him. Before any more egos would be broken, Lily got up and pulled the Irish up next to her. By this time, numerous students were already staring at the small group that had formed around the new senior, some sniggering because of the scene that had been created.

"Come on, Morgan! We'd better go before you destroy poor Black's self-esteem completely – as if that's even possible," she said, but Morgan just shrugged.

"He asked for it," she answered and waited for Lily to stop sniggering. Leaving a startled looking Sirius sitting at the table, Morgan walked out of the hall confidently like she had been here for years already. It was quite easy to see Black was not used to that kind of behaviour and she was extremely amused because of this little fact. Seeing as he had managed to get on her nerves so many times during the few hours Morgan had known him, she couldn't even try to pity him. The look of extreme confusion on his face as she had delivered the final blow, was so extremely hilarious Morgan kept on smiling all the way up and didn't hear a word Lily was saying; apparently she had been trying to tell how to get from the Great Hall to the Gryffindor tower.

Once the three witches were standing in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a tight pink dress, Lily stepped forward.

"Porskoff Ploy," she said clearly, making the painting sway open.

"Porskoff Ploy?" Morgan repeated questioningly, but Lily just shook her head.

"James must have picked the password."

"Oh," Morgan stated simply as she climbed in through the opening after Alice and saw the common room for the first time. Gasping at the sight, she took in every detail of the huge looking, cosy space. Plenty of comfy looking armchairs stood everywhere across the space while a warm, large fire spread a snug glow over the soft carpet.

"This place is brilliant!" the Irish said, overwhelmed. Lily turned to her.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" she claimed and dragged Morgan up to their dorm. Though it felt almost impossible to her, the redhead's jaw dropped several inches more at the view of the beautiful room. It was round – just like the common room – and five four-poster beds with dark, velvet drapes filled a great part of it. Morgan noticed that her trunk had already been moved to the bed closest to the window, next to Lily's.

"You like?" Lily asked, smiling broadly when she saw the perplexed look on her best friend's face.

"Like? I don't like it… I adore it!" Morgan exclaimed and dropped herself on her bed with glee. Alice and Lily giggled as she bounced up and down cheerfully.

"Ouch! What the…?" the witch murmured, as she felt something hard under the covers. Carefully, Morgan pulled the heavy fabric away to find a bedpan resembling those in muggle-hospitals. It felt a little warm and she raised her eyebrow doubtfully while holding the thing up in front of her. Again, the two witches laughed, but Lily just waved her hand dismissingly.

"You'll get used to such things soon enough. The house elves always put those things un-"

"There are house elves here?!" Morgan cut her off in excitement, dropping herself on her knees to peep under the bed, "Where? Where?!"

"You can't see them, silly," Lily said sniggering while she took of her robes and changed in a pair of striped pyjamas. Meanwhile, Alice's laughter had finally calmed down.

"Well, she's just like you described her, Evans!" she said as she threw away the Drooble's Best Blowing Gum wrapper she had been playing with.

"Who are the two other people we'll be sharing a room with?" Morgan asked, curiously looking at the two empty beds. One had a trunk loaded with robes and other clothing in front of it, together with a bedside cabinet with hairbrushes and a large hand-mirror on top; the other stood lonely on the other side of the room, with an empty night table and no trunk in sight.

"Well, you would have liked Enid," Alice sighed.

"Yes, she reminded me a lot of you," Lily said, her face drooping a little.

"What happened to her?" the Irish witch asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed – already dressed in a plaid green and blue nightshirt – as she looked at both girls curiously.

"Poor girl," Alice sighed again, "Her parents used to be famous alchemists, but their last experiment went extremely wrong. I believe she's in St. Mungo's now."

"Yeah, they haven't discovered a way to stop her nose hair from growing and I believe they still haven't found her left leg yet."

Morgan was silent for a while, trying to picture that in her head, but decided not to make an effort.

"And who's the other?" she asked, pointing to the bed with the loaded trunk. Lily and Alice shot each other conspiring glances and Morgan was certain she saw a hint of a scowl on both faces.

"That's Kelly Cornell's trunk," Lily answered bitterly, a wry smile on her and Alice's face. Morgan had a bad feeling about this. "Tch, Corny Kelly, the worst stuck-up little prissy I've ever had the displeasure to meet!"

Both Morgan and Alice laughed as Lily paraded through the dorm, her nose up in the air like the whole school belonged to her…

"I can't believe she said that... She couldn't have said that... Did she really say that?" Sirius was muttering quietly, more to himself than to the others, and James was still laughing about how Morgan had reacted to Black's attempt flirt.

"Tough luck, Padfoot. Looks like you finally ran into a girl who has enough brains not to fall for your charmer act!"

"I was just trying to be polite," Black grunted, turning his head the other way.

"My arse you were! We all know full well what you were trying to do," James said sniggering while Sirius shot him an evil eye.

"She's just playing hard to get..."

"I don't think she is. You'd better just leave her alone," Lupin cut in, looking disapproving.

"Like you know anything about the ladies, Moony!" Sirius growled and ran his fingers through his hair arrogantly. James got another fit of laughter before the would-be Adonis turned to face him with a look of pure annoyance on his handsome face.

"What is so ruddy funny about this? Like you are having any better luck with Evans! And you've been chasing after her for over two years now!"

Instantly, the Head Boy's expression was sobered and he scowled to Black.

"Lily has nothing to do with this!"

"Oh really? Then how come you haven't been out with her a single time so far?"

"She just hasn't realized yet what's good for her," his best mate answered, messing up his hair some more distractedly.

"I could say the same about MacCartan then," Sirius raised his eyebrow at James' statement, looking at him as if to dare him to disagree.

"I could make a bet you can't get her to go out with you!"

"Oh really? I could make a bet I can get Morgan to go out with me before you can get Evans to go out with you."

Each growling slightly by now, the two young wizards were eyeing each other angrily, their eyes blazing.

"I think you should not make that bet," Remus tried to break the two friends up, only to be ignored completely.

"Fine, let's lay a wager on it! When you lose, I expect to see you singing 'Scotland the Brave' to MacCartan in front of the whole school."

"DEAL! But when I win, I will see you to do the same thing to Evans."

Black and Potter shook each other's hands grim faced.

"And no love potions allowed," James said.

"Nor love charms," stated Sirius in return.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

The two wizards got up both determined to win. However, it didn't take the friends too long to make up; when they reached the doors that lead to the stairs, they were already chatting about Quidditch again as if nothing had happened. With a dazzled look on his face, Peter Pettigrew had followed their conversation, but Lupin simply walked out of the Great Hall while shaking his head disapprovingly. There were other, more important things for him to care about than broomsticks and girls.

"Hey, Sirius!" a peppy voice called. Uninterested, Black turned around, but had to groan when he saw who had addressed him. Kelly, a pretty blonde Gryffindor girl that had asked Sirius out numerous times, was already striding over to him elegantly.

"I saw how that new girl treated you! She must be awful," she continued, pushing aside a lock of her long fair hair so her big blue eyes were even more noticeable. Kelly seemed to be the prime example of an upper-class witch; beautiful, talented and with nothing to worry about on the surface.

"What do you want, Kelly" Sirius sighed, bored and with the Irish' rejection still lingering on his mind. He hadn't always minded any girl's attention and he knew that many young wizards wished to be in his shoes. However, at that moment, he'd rather not be reminded of the fact he could probably get the most popular Gryffindor, but failed to ask out "the new kid".

"Well, I was wondering, since that girl turned you down, if you'd want to go out with me instead?" she asked with a hopeful smile on her face; a smile he might have fell for earlier, but not anymore.

"Her name is Morgan and no, I won't go out with you," he replied, angry the conversation he was having with James about Catriona McCormack, the Pride of Portree's chaser, had been interrupted for such a trivial reason. Sirius had never really liked Kelly Cornell and had seriously thought about petrifying her with a jinx several times. For evident reasons, she reminded him of his elder cousin, Narcissa, who he had disliked his whole life. Turning back to James, he left the blond witch standing in the corridor dumbfound.


	6. Chapter 6 The One With Divination

Under normal circumstances, Morgan wouldn't have even considered opening her eyes at an hour like this. The sun had been barely up, giving it little chance to warm or colour the vast grounds around the castle. At home, her alarm clock would show six o'clock, but no one would be around to look at it, sigh and turn over to snooze for another hour. Only a madman would voluntarily get up now.

However, the morning after her arrival, her first day of proper magical education was not exactly what you could call "normal circumstances". Just like Lily could not be called "normal company" either. Few would think it of the head girl, but she was more cunning than one would give her credit for. Lily might not have been foolish enough to ride kelpies, but Morgan could easily recall occasions where she used enchanted tea cups and jinxed frog spawn to pull a prank on Petunia, even if it was unauthorised magic. Perhaps she wouldn't have been such a match for James after all, when she had her days. And today was one of those days.

For unexplainable, seemingly suicidal reasons, Lily had decided her friend had to wake up at the exact same time as herself and succeeded in her evil plan by actions nothing short of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hiding her wand behind her back mischievously, after pouring ice-cold water in Morgan's ear, she watched how the witch jumped up and let out an ear-splitting shriek. Quite convinced that someone was trying to kill her, Morgan held her small fists in front of her, for a moment forgetting that she could actually use magic to hex people now. Perhaps, however, that was for the best.

"Good morning!" Lily grinned, tossing a rather fluffy towel over at the now wet Irish, who, nevertheless, had a very dry look on her face, "Glad to see you have no problems getting up."

Though Alice, already up and running around cheerily as well, had an amused look on her face, Morgan couldn't make herself do anything but produce a low grunt. If you looked up the term "morning person" in a standard dictionary, you definitely would not find a picture of the Irish next to it. She even appeared to have a companion who shared the same bitter view on the watery prank.

The mysterious Kelly Cornell, whom they hadn't seen at all last night, had still been vast asleep before the ear shattering scream had awoken her abruptly. Now, however, Morgan could see a small blonde staring at her from her bed, her baby blue eyes still drowsy and bedazzled. A red, satin mask was perched above her head, making her smooth hair stick to all directions. She had an air about her that gave away she was rich, advantaged and knew it, too. If the Irish had been a vainer, more envious person, she would have been jealous of the girl, on top of prejudiced.

Morgan admired her own black robes, now lined with crimson and holding the Gryffindor chest; a red and golden shield with a pouncing lion. For a moment, she simply held the clothes in her hands and stared into nothingness; how lucky had she been to get this far, and in the same house as her best friend no less!

Hogwarts... Magic… She couldn't believe this was happening at last.

The common room was empty when the three witches got down there. The ashes in the fireplace were smouldering and often, a red spark would come of it when a draught seeped through the hazy windows. Other than that, everything was still; no living being – not even a house elf or cat – to show there had been a point in turning into an early bird.

"I guess we're a bit early!" Lily said with a smile, striding around the room, as if she had actually expected it to be fuller. There was something devious to her behaviour, something that made her look suspicious and her intentions questionable.

Morgan frowned at her, "Does that mean I could have spent more time sleeping than I actually did?"

"Well...Err...Hey look at this!" her best friend quickly changed the subject and went to the message board near the entrance, examining it like it was the first time she had ever seen such a contraption. "They are looking for someone to help out in the Three Broomsticks during weekends and holidays!"

Her earlier distress was soon forgotten and Morgan went to take a look for herself; she had been thinking about finding a way to earn some extra money during the year and this would be the perfect opportunity to put those thoughts into action.

"Let me see!" Lily moved away quickly, obviously happy to see her plan had succeeded. She had been the first to hear about the job opening from McGonagall and knew exactly what Morgan would find on the sparkling white piece of parchment, which she was now reading ever so carefully. After all, she had been the one who had snuck downstairs in the middle of the night to hang the fancily scribbled note.

'_If you have need for extra Galleons and enjoy hard work, send an owl to Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks._'

Hastily, Morgan snatched the message off and shoved it in her robes pocket. A long string of pink bubblegum between the board and the parchment was the only evidence of its former presence. With a fairly disgusted face, she picked the sticky rubber away and chucked it in the fire, where it turned black and gave off a rather fruity smell for a couple of seconds.

"Why did you do that?" Alice asked, looking at the Irish witch clearly puzzled.

"Because the gum was filthy," Morgan stated simply, knowing very well that wasn't exactly what the far too honest girl had meant, "And I just want to make sure I get the job. You have to be a little selfish once in a while to make it in life."

Lily crossed her arms and eyed the witch cynically, but with a hint of tease, "Are you sure the Hat didn't want you to be in Slytherin?"

"It said I am too loyal to ever fit in Slytherin," the redhead replied, sticking out her tongue, "But I really need this job; I have no other way to earn any extra cash."

Morgan paused and sighed, "To tell you the truth I spent all me money on those books. Dad didn't want to lend me any for this hocus-pocus."

Though she knew it would come across the wrong way, Lily couldn't help but give a sympathetic look – something Morgan didn't really enjoy. In kindergarten, the other children usually weren't allowed to play with her, seeing as she had a record of strange events happening around her when she was displeased. As a wee lassie, Morgan had never understood why, though. After all, it hadn't been _her_ fault the principal's wig had turned pink and blew up – he shouldn't have pinched her cheek in the first place. It hadn't been _her _fault the school bully ended up in an invisible box – he shouldn't have mocked the imaginary friends she had been playing with anyway. Somehow, many of the people who had bugged her, ended up in the hospital under weird circumstances. She had always been taught that if you were naughty, you should be punished. All she did was make those things happen, without really doing anything. Was that such a bad thing?

"Just bugging you. I can come with you up to the owlery later if you like!" Lily laughed, knowing her friend wouldn't be able to find her way up there if her life depended on it.

"That'd be great!" Morgan smiled thankfully, "But right now, I really need some hot, steaming, mind-blowing-"

"Sounds like somebody is talking about me!" a voice, still gruff from the night, sounded behind the girls; Morgan already knew whom it had come from.

"Coffee," she finished her sentence, keeping her back turned to Sirius and not even preparing a blunt response anymore. He obviously had too much self-conceit, but if was even more obvious that there was nothing Morgan would be able to do about that. Why should she? It wasn't her problem – yet.

"How can anyone be so impossible? And arrogant!" the witch asked her friends as they headed down to the first floor. Waving her arms around, caught up in a fiery rant, Morgan hadn't even spent time looking around and taking in her surroundings – hopefully, there would be other times for that in the future, as long as she didn't wreck anything today.

"That's Sirius Black for you," Lily chuckled, more over Morgan's manners than over what she was actually saying, "He might seem like an idiot now, but he's an okay bloke; loyal like a dog and always willing to lend a hand."

"As long as he keeps his hands off of me…", came the darkly muttered reply from the redhead. "I've known the fellow for less than a day and I've had enough of him already."

"You get used to it," Lily scratched the back of her neck where Alice had pointed out a nasty mosquito bite, "Just like you can get used to chronic pain."

"I don't think it's really fair to blame poor Sirius for everything though," Alice reasoned in an innocent tone; she seemed to be too good for this world once in a while, "I heard he lives alone now, ran away from home."

"Oh, really?" Morgan said, "I guess no one could endure living with him."

"Actually," Lily dropped her voice and continued in a low whisper; she didn't have the habit to gossip and didn't quite know how to act herself when she did, "His whole family is very much into pure-bloodedness. All of them are Slytherins and Sirius was a big disappointment to them. He couldn't bear the way they behaved either."

"Oh," the Irish mused, not completely understanding the whole _bloody_ issue, "Still… It doesn't matter if your family is rich or noble; doesn't mean you have to be cocky as well."

"Ah well, you're still new," Alice said, taking another left turn. Not able to concentrate on the constant changing, turning, and twisting of the many halls and corridors as it made her rather ill, Morgan was starting to wonder if they deliberately tried to make her feel lost, "He just wants to show who's the alpha-male. With a bit of luck, he'll stop bugging you in a couple of weeks."

"Or maybe you tickle his fancy and he'll never leave you alone anymore," Lily said with an overly sugary voice and batted her eyelashes vigorously.

The witch shivered at the thought, "I'd rather not tickle him anywhere, thank you."

"But most likely it's just the fact you are one of the first one to tell him off," Alice pushed aside a tapestry. Finally, a familiar sight appeared before the Irish when they descended the staircase. How could anyone find their way around this castle anyway?

"Are you saying that everybody has fallen for his so-called charms so far?" she exclaimed, shocked at the possibility anyone would actually do that. Alice and Lily exchanged a telling glance.

"Well he **_is_** one of the most handsome blokes in this school," Alice said, blushing slightly, "Plus, he doesn't usually go for the type of girls that wouldn't fancy him."

"What? The intelligent ones with common sense?" Morgan grunted, finally taking her seat at the Gryffindor table, "No wonder he has become such a big-headed idiot..."

"Actually, he doesn't usually go after any type of girl," Lily shrugged, "Perhaps flirting a bit, wanting to feel he'd be able to haul one in if he'd wish to do so. But other than that…"

"You sound like you're talking about a fish instead of a person," she finally poured her much needed mug blistering hot coffee. With a thoroughly happy sigh, she took a long sip of it. "Lets not talk about Black anymore today, okay? Black coffee is enough for me already."

Her friend snickered, pulled out a smooth paper out of thin air and held it out before Morgan's face, making sure she couldn't miss looking at it, "Look, I have your schedule here. First we both have Divination, then you have Arithmancy and after that it's already lunch time!"

"Then I have to leave you girls to it," Alice peeked at her own paper, "I have to get to the greenhouse already for Herbology."

"What have we got after lunch?"

"Hm… We have double class of Care of Magical Creatures, it seems," Morgan's expression lightened up instantly after hearing that, but Lily's face on the contrary went gloomy as her eyes darted over the parchment.

"Blimey! It says here that I have to spend my lunch hour with the Head Boy talking about upcoming events!" she stated loudly, massaging her temples. Biting her lip, Morgan tapped the Head Girl on her shoulder; knowing the stories she had heard about James, she truly pitied her best friend at this moment.

"I'm sure you'll survive. It's only one hour after all," she shushed her, but didn't quite succeed.

"One hour too much," Lily muttered and put the parchment away, "Eat faster. The first class starts in half an hour."

"You mean I have to get up this early every day?" the Irish gasped, nearly chocking in her porridge at the thought. Though she was excited, she didn't quite look forward to that little downside.

"Not really," her friend sniggered, "We just need to show you the actual shortest way to the Great Hall."

"You didn't – Alice – ", Morgan stuttered, "You can be so evil at times…"

"It's what I do best," Lily downed her last bit of milk after smirking shortly and packed her books, "Lets go."

"Evans! Hey, Evans!" someone yelled behind them, even before they reached the wobbly staircases they'd have to ascend. It seemed as if faith had turned its back on the infamous Irish luck; Morgan knew who she'd find if she turned around and she wasn't very pleased with the prospect.

"What is it Potter?" Lily snarled at him and Morgan twisted her face into the most bored expression she could master, "Feel like you need to catch up with two months of not annoying me?"

"Aww, why are you always so unhappy to see us?" he pouted, but was clearly only amusing himself before class would start. It seemed that they'd be in the same class – unfortunately.

"I don't know," she retorted, "Why do you always act like an idiot when you see me?"

"Nonsense, we just wanted to lighten up your day!" James said as he walked to Lily and wound his arm around her shoulders. Morgan gave a warning glance to Sirius, who had come to stand next to her as well. That, however, didn't stop him from flashing a confident grin at her.

"Well then, could you please lighten up my day elsewhere? How about five kilometres that way?" she scowled, pointing towards the hills outside as Morgan sniggered. Before the words had sunk in completely, Lily had already managed to squirm away from James' grasp. With the Irish on her heels, she stubbornly started to climb the stairs, of which the stone steps had worn out from countless of students who had hurried up and down them. The round tower used as Divination classroom was dimly lit and, though large in size, too full of different knickknacks to walk through without pushing anything over. Huffing slightly because of the pressing heat of two or three fires, the girls seated themselves on a hassock, as far away from James and Sirius' table as they could.

"Nervous about your first Divination-class?" Lily asked, fluffing up the green pillow that had been in her way, before putting it on the low table and resting her head upon it lazily.

"No not really. I'm just curious about the hag that will teach us, that's all," she answered, while looking at the desk in a strange sort of anticipation. Morgan might not have been as good in mindless wand-waving, but divination was something she was looking forward too. It seemed fairly simple to her; either you had the gift or you hadn't – in her case, she hoped it wouldn't turn out to be the latter. Lily looked like she was about to say something, mouth agape and eyebrows furrowed, but their conversation was interrupted by a foreign-sounding chant. Out of the shadows, accompanied by the colourful smoke of burning incense and a dull humming, came a fairly young and handsome Romany man. His far too large purple shirt – deliberately left unbuttoned at the top to reveal a bronze toned chest – had been tucked into his pants, which in turn were far too tight. With every step he took closer into the room, still waving around his incense like a madman, the copper buckles of his boots tinkled loudly against his lucky charms that seemed to be tied to every place possible.

"I wish I were that rabbit's foot," a girl behind Morgan and Lily sighed quietly, staring at the chain dangling from his belt rather than at his face that was crowned by curly black hair, tied back loosely with a bright ribbon. Raising her eyebrow, the witch shot a meaningful glance over at Lily, who only rolled her eyes.

"Welcome to Divination," he said in a dreamy voice, barely loud enough for the people in the back to hear, making many girls let out another sigh. By now, Morgan was suppressing the urge to vomit; what a slimy show-off. "I see we have a new student in our midst."

Though she hadn't quite paid attention to the class yet, the Irish' head snapped up instantly when she heard his last remark. Feeling uncomfortable, as all the students in the classroom spun around to get a better look, Morgan lowered her eyes. However, the piercing stare of the professor himself was even more intimidating than the students, who were whispering amongst each other by now. Perhaps it was the darkness playing tricks on her, but Morgan could have sworn his black eyes consisted of only one big pupil.

"Yes, sir," Morgan answered dutifully and fought the urge to squirm on her hassock, knowing she would probably slip off. She didn't even know how to address him yet.

"You may call me Professor Baxt," he told her in a mysterious tone, as if he had read her mind. Impressed, the witch blinked a couple of times before she dared to look directly into his eyes again. "And your name was miss…?"

"MacCartan, sir."

"Miss MacCartan, right," he mused, leaning against the desk that had been placed in the middle of the room. The deep indentations in the thick carpet showed that it had only recently been moved away from one of the fires. Perhaps one of his loose shirts had caught fire, Morgan pondered, unable to suppress a grin at the thought. However, Baxt interrupted her mental image bluntly, "I am aware of your lack of formal education."

"Well, I did go to school," she stuttered, a bit offended, "It's not like I can't read or count."

"I'm afraid you won't be much with numbers and letters here," the teacher raised an eyebrow and pointed at the door, which appeared to have vanished behind a thick curtain of glass beads, "Arithmancy is in a different classroom."

He chuckled at his own joke before continuing, "I am sure there are students who can spare some time tutoring you into the fine and delicate art of Divination."

"I'll volunteer!" a loud shout came from the other side of the round tower, followed by a burst of laughter around the room.

"Oh be quiet, Sirius," Lily stated wryly, shooting a sharp look at the loud boy who was leaning back in his chair limply. He even seemed to be hovering a couple of inches above the ground; Morgan couldn't decide who she found a bigger boaster – Black or Baxt, "Sir, I'd be happy to make sure Morgan is able to follow the class."

"I believe that is up to Miss MacCartan to decide," the professor said, rolling the R softly on his tongue.

"I prefer Lily's help. Thanks for the offer," Morgan mumbled, feeling how a faint blush was creeping up from her neck.

"Morgan, you don't know what you're missing. I could tutor you in _anything_ you could possibly want," Sirius kept smirking; the Irish sensed herself turning as scarlet as the robes of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Much to her relief it was far too dark in the room for anyone but Lily to actually notice, though that didn't make her feel any less uneasy.

"Now, now, Mr Black. I'd like to actually start the class, so if you don't mind being quiet as I give out the instructions?" the professor continued calmly; Morgan could only admire his patience, even if it seemed the only admirable thing about him.

"What if I do mind?", came the cheeky reply.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to remove you from the class, Mr. Black. Of course, then you would have to serve it on your own time," Baxt's voice had gained a steely edge to it, though he still refused to raise his voice. Snorting, Sirius stared at the teacher daringly, though eventually decided to comply. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood for detention on the first day. Judging by the relieved sigh coming from Peter, neither were the others.

"Now, today we shall refresh our memories with a simple palmistry exercise. Pair up and look into your partner's hand," the professor's eyes studied the students slowly, until his eye fell on Morgan and Lily's table, "On second thought, let us make it a little harder! As everyone in the universe is in contact with each other, it should be perfectly possible to see someone else's future in your own hand. Why don't you try to see in your partner's hand whether or not our new student will be able to keep up with the class!"

"…I hate divination," Morgan wailed as she handed her palm to Lily, still staring at the professor sideways. His eyes gleamed in the dark for a moment, before he closed them and strode around the space blindly, avoiding everything in his way without effort.

"Oh, I think he was just trying to be considerate."

"Sure, by making me feel like an utter idiot…" Morgan grumbled, trying to keep her hand perfectly still, "And I wasn't talking about the professor."

"It seems to me that," a purposely loud voice explained across the classroom, "based on your palm, Morgan will _only_ be able to keep up with the class, if she has a wizard tutoring her, Padfoot."

"Oh, please, James!" Morgan, now visibly angered, wasn't able to keep quiet after the umpteenth remark from the Marauders; she had to try to put a stop to this nonsense once and for all., "You're so bad at Divination that even your grandchildren will bear the consequences of it! That is, if you ever find anyone crazy enough to have kids with you."

Immediately after the words had escaped from her lips, her hand rose to cover her mouth. A dark shadow loomed over her.

"Miss MacCartan, I have a feeling you didn't pay attention in the beginning of the class," the professor's voice was silken smooth, even though the stiffness of his square jaw line clearly showed his agitation, "I clearly recall informing that I will not tolerate misbehaviour in this class."

"But.." she started, "I just reacted to Potter! How was my behaviour any worse than Black's?"

"Because you had been warned in advance," Baxt went on, edgier than before, "I do not tolerate students who talk back."

"This isn't fair!"

"In my classroom, I decide what is fair!" he straightened his back, towering above her even more than before; "You are insulting my noble arts!"

"Noble arts!" Morgan snorted; infuriated by the injustice the teacher was putting her through, "You are such a fraud!"

All the students in the classroom gasped simultaneously. Then, silence.

"A fraud, miss MacCartan?" professor Baxt addressed her, stepping closer. The polished buckles tinkled loudly again, "A _fraud_?"

"Romany don't even believe in fortunetelling," the witch put her hands in her sides, as if to dare him to disagree, "They only do that to-"

"Get out of my classroom, now!" he interrupted her in a loud voice that made the tea cups in the cupboards clatter for a moment, "And that will be one week detention for you, MacCartan!"

Without saying another word, she packed her things and left the place, stomping. The redhead could still hear James's low toned comment as she passed the group of lads, "Wow, detention on her first day. That must be a record, even for us..."


End file.
